Doctor Who: Timelash -Story 142
by Pennant Roberts
List Price:
Our Price: $13.12
You Save: $6.82 (34%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $7.99 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Colin Baker, Eric Deacon, Jeananne Crowley, Nicola Bryant, Paul DarrowDirector: Pennant Roberts
Brand: Warner Brothers
Editor: John Dunstan
Producer: John Nathan-Turner
Writer: Glen McCoy
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Original recording remastered, Subtitled
Picture Format: Widescreen, 1.33:1
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-04-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Worldwide
Product features:
- A stowaway named Herbert takes inspiration for his first novel from this adventure with the sixth Doctor.Running Time: 90 min. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION Rating: NR Age: 883929003914 UPC: 883929003914 Manufacturer No: 1000035899
DVD Reviews of Doctor Who: Timelash -Story 142
DVD Review: "To be perfectly frank, Herbert."
Summary: 4 Stars
Poor Sixth Doctor. He just gets no respect. Here in "Timelash" he neither picks up a gun to shoot down the enemy nor smothers the enemy to death, dashing off a morbid quip as he does so. Nobody eats human flesh, nobody drops into a vat of acid. Nothing's unduly controversial or disturbing. So does "Timelash" get any credit for walking the comfortably straight and narrow? Oh no, far from it. It comes in for harsher criticism yet.
Which, just like the face of the story's principal villain, the Borad, is either perfectly fair or unfairly foul, depending on your perspective. The basic idea of the story is superb. The Borad, once an unsavory biologist on the planet Karfel who in the midst of one of his unethical experiments inadvertently became fused with his reptilian specimen, now he's the unseen but all-seeing dictator of the planet, banishing any dissidents through a time tunnel (the eponymous Timelash) while secretly engineering a war that will leave unscathed only himself and a new race like him in appearance. The Doctor and Peri step into this situation as it nears its crisis (of course), meanwhile involving Herbert, a bouncy young would-be science fiction writer from turn-of-the-century England--a clever pseudo-historical touch all the more enjoyable in that the real Herbert's later novel "The Time Machine" was one of the inspirations for "Doctor Who" back in the early 60's (Who made who?). Basically, this is all good classic Who through and through. And since both the prior two stories and the following one include as a theme shadily motivated genetic manipulation gone wrong, it's hard not to suspect that something was in the news or whatnot in 1985 making an unsettling impression on the social imagination. The manner in which the story plays with the unspoken power politics of seeing and being seen in its depiction of a claustrophobically totalitarian society is also ingenious. Judging only from all this, "Timelash" should be hailed as a classic. Has it been unfairly castigated?
Well, not exactly. The concept is sound enough, but its realization is radically uneven in quality. The actual plotting of the story and the script itself bear telltale traces that the writer, Glen McCoy, was himself (somewhat like Herbert) full of enthusiasm but just a bit unpracticed yet. The ending after an ending after an ending is anti-climatic, the Doctor's sacrificing himself and the Tardis to save Karfel only to show up moments later coyly deferring explanation is an unbearable cop-out, and the confusing references to a prior visit by the Doctor in his third incarnation unnecessary and cheesy. The acting ranges from excellent to horrid. Colin Baker carries the show as the flamboyantly brusque, temperamental, delightfully arrogant Doctor with hearts of gold, and Robert Ashby's portrayal of the Borad is flawless, coldly calm in his cruelty. Paul Darrow's villainous take on the Borad's majordomo Tekker is also great fun. Most of the rest of the cast though give the most uninspired and absolutely wooden performance imaginable, and this flatline context has the adverse effect of making David Chandler's Herbert seem a bit over-the-top in comparison. Strangely, the special effects show this same wild variability, from the Borad's amazingly convincing make-up to the painfully obvious Christmas tinsel of the Timelash.
So, in the final analysis, is "Timelash" the cream of the cream or the lees and the dregs? One might as well ask if the glass is half empty or half full. But if you're a Doctor Who fan it would be a shame not to take a sip and see for yourself.
Description of Doctor Who: Timelash -Story 142
DOCTOR WHO:EP 142 TIMELASH - DVD MovieBestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Doctor Who: Colony in Space (Story 58)Warner; Release date: 2011-11-08; DVD
Best price: $15.15
Price in other shops:
Doctor Who: Frontios - Episode 133WHV; Release date: 2011-06-14; DVD
Best price: $15.63
Price in other shops:
Doctor Who: The Awakening - Episode 132WHV; Release date: 2011-07-12; DVD
Best price: $8.20
Price in other shops:
Doctor Who: The Two Doctors (Story 141)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2004-06-01; DVD
Best price: $16.99
Price in other shops:
Doctor Who: Attack of the Cybermen (Story 138)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2009-07-07; DVD
Best price: $15.99
Price in other shops:
Doctor Who: Mark of the Rani -Story 140Warner Brothers; Release date: 2006-11-07; DVD
Best price: $12.72
Price in other shops:
Doctor Who: The Twin Dilemma - Story 137Warner Brothers; Release date: 2010-01-05; DVD
Best price: $17.96
Price in other shops:
Doctor Who: The Trial of a Time Lord (Stories 144 - 147)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2008-10-07; DVD
Best price: $35.32
Price in other shops:
Doctor Who: Vengeance on Varos -Story 139WEA; Release date: 2003-03-04; DVD
Best price: $8.46
Price in other shops:
Doctor Who: Revelation of the Daleks (Story 143)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2006-06-06; DVD
Best price: $14.31
Price in other shops: